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National Amusements introduces CyGamZ

DETROIT, MI — In order to lure in more moviegoers, one Showcase Cinema is rolling out a large gaming center to attract more of the younger crowd along with their families.

Movie theaters have long had arcades where people waiting for a movie to begin could pump in a quarter or two and enjoy a few minutes of game-playing fun.

But the CyGamZ center, which informally opened Friday, is different.

Located in an unused lobby of the Showcase multiplex, it covers a huge corner of the complex larger than several theaters put together. It encompasses a large lounge with a concession stand and pods of 24 Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 video game consoles hooked up to flat screen TVs; party rooms that feature more consoles, more flat screens and the ability to run things like Powerpoint presentations; and a huge back room that houses 60 moodily lit Alienware PCs running a gamut of games from Sims 2 to Battlefield 2142.

Comments (4)

The alternative use of space is an interesting one. Its a additional revenue stream as well. The NA theater near me in Arlington VA has a line up of several arcade games. On one night, several years ago, there was a fight amongst a group of kids over a video game that turned rather violent. Fortunately, I didn’t stick around to see what happened or why, but widespread conversions should proceed with caution. Nowadays, video games are more sophisticated and intense since the old days of Pac Man, Galaxian and gasp Pong that a lot of us grew up on. They can stir up and incite kids predisposed to violence and aggression to act out at the simplest slight and/or remark.

This is a great idea. We had a party at our 4-screen indy in Bethel, CT (Bethel Cinema) last NYE. We had food in the lobby, bands in the large theater and video game consoles with wireless controllers on the big screen. Brilliant concept.